Charlie Crist drops out of the GOP to Run as an Independent in the U.S. Senate Race

(USA Today) Florida Governor Charlie Crist made the decision on Thursday to ditch the Republican Party that once embraced him as a rising star and decides to run as an independent in the U.S. Senate race. Crist told supporters gathered in his hometown of St. Petersburg, Fla. on Thursday that his decision to continue his campaign without any party backing "says more about our nation and our state than it does me." The truth of the matter is he's dropping out of the GOP because his opponent, Marco Rubio, is ahead of him in most polls by 20+ points. Crist, one touted as a possible running mate for John McCain in the 2008 presidential race is embarking on a three-way battle in the November general election which will more than likely include GOP front-runner Marco Rubio, Florida's former House Speaker and Democratic candidates Rep. Kendrick Meek.

Crist initially had the upper hand in the GOP primary, but his poll numbers took a nosedive in recent weeks against Rubio. Rubio has been courting the Tea Party movement. Crist trailed Rubio 56% to 33% in an April poll by Quinnipiac University. Rubio claims Crist "doesn't get it" because it's not about party but who supports limited government. There are also other GOP primary fights this year in Kentucky and Arizona this year. However, the Florida race underscores the deep anti-incumbent sentiment sweeping across the nation, said Mark McKinnon, a former adviser to President George W. Bush. Crist had angered many Republicans for his early support last year of President Obama's $862 billion economic stimulus bill. It didn't help matters when the two men shared a hug on stage shortly before the controversial legislation narrowly passed Congress last year. Jennifer Duffy, an editor with the non-partisan Cook Political Report, said many of Crist's problems were caused by not taking Rubio's campaign more seriously from the beginning. "The Tea Partiers will take credit for this scalp, and they deserve some, absolutely, but Crist made it easy," Duffy said. In recent weeks former vice President Dick Cheney and Mitt Romney, a probable 2012 candidate for president, have recently backed Rubio.

Crist is a progressive Republican. He was an early supporter of President Obama's stimulus bill last year and I guarantee you if he was to win the U.S. Senate seat in Florida he would be a "go along, get along guy." He would work to support some of Obama's legislation. He probably will support the growth of government. He probably will support amnesty for illegals. Politicians like Charlie Crist are not what we need in Washington. I don't know much about Marco Rubio, but he would be a much better choice than Crist. Since Crist has bolted the Republican Party, raising money will become more difficult without party support. Texas Senator John Cornyn, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has called on Crist to return donations back to GOP supporters.

I recall the 2006 Senatorial re-election of Joe Lieberman. Lieberman was a Democrat. His Democratic opponent in the primary was Ned Lamont. Lamont attacked Lieberman for his strong support for the war in Iraq. As a result, Lieberman lost the primary to Lamont. Lieberman in turn ran as an independent in the Senate race in Connecticut. We all know the results. I respect Lieberman in how he ran that campaign in 2006. Even though he was behind in the polls, he ran on the Democratic ticket until he was defeated in the primary. It was then when he made the decision to run as an independent for the general election. He didn't bow out because he knew he could possibly be defeated in the Democratic primary. He stayed the course and then he switched later. That's what Crist should've done. Crist knew he was going to be defeated in the Republican primary and rather than stay until the primary was over, he bolted the Republican Party beforehand. He should've waited until the primary was over before he left the GOP. I believe he would've been more respected in his doing so if he waited. In this situation, there's an issue with confidence. I hope Crist fares very poorly in the primary. He should. He told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday a month ago that he would remain in the Republican party during the primary. He changed his mind. Now there's an issue of trust because of that. It was about self-preservation as well as he didn't want to suffer an embarrasing defeat in the GOP primary. If Florida voters have any sense, they won't elect this man in November.